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March 7, 2008
Too Much Exercise?
Mary had a fascinating entry on CR and exercise. I've been wondering a lot lately why it's just so gosh darn hard to get my calorie levels down to their previous lows, and I think she has a point: I may be exercising too much.
Now don't get my wrong: I think a certain amount and type of exercise is very important. Just in terms of reducing risk of later disease, bone building exercise, cardio endurance building, flexibility and balance training are all things I wouldn't want to give up. When I've slipped on the ice this winter and felt my Pilates muscles catching me, I've thought about how at 33 that just means that Pilates is saving me from some bruises and Danny C making fun of me (yes, he would laugh if I slipped on the ice, though I'm sure he'd make an effort, after laughing at me, to help me up), at 83, Pilates muscles could save me from a broken hip. The ability to make it up the stairs to my fourth floor office without feeling out of breath or tired is important to me, as are the stress reduction benefits of cardio. But when I think about how much hungrier I am these days, and how it's a different kind of hunger, I begin to think I should dial back the exercise a bit.
The kind of hunger I've had lately is what I call "hungry muscles." It's like the muscles are trying to build themselves, and they threaten to go on strike if I don't feed them. It's very different from down-at-the-bottom CR hunger, and I know I have plenty of fat to burn at this point. But hungry muscles make me so hungry that I begin to size up my co-workers for which one would have the most satisfying combination of protein and fat were I to eat him, and which one might taste best with the assortment of hot sauces I have in the fridge. It's not a good sign when you start to think of people you love and respect and have worked with for years as potential food sources. It's then that I reach for my emergency cottage cheese, which is also excellent with Texas Pete or Emerill's green Kick It Up sauce, but which does not have responsibility for leading the greatest nurses' union in the world. Nor is it likely to scream or require a funeral.
Going back to high protein breakfast has definitely helped, but the muscle hunger is consistently making it difficult to keep to my calorie target. When I look at various online calculators for BMR and how much on top of that one burns with exercise, I am not surprised. Lately, I've been in the "very active" category. Pilates every other day, sometimes every day, cardio every day, at least 35 minutes and up to 55 minutes, and switching out treadmill for the elliptical, which burns almost double the calories (the way I do it anyway) plus some weight lifting... yeah, I'm exercising too much.
My body fat percentage has gone down by 3%, but everyone knows that the CR effect doesn't come from low body weight or fat, it comes from calories calories calories. And while I think there are advantages both short and long term to being a fit CR'd rat, as opposed to a couch potato CR'd rat, I'm probably past the point of diminishing returns.
So I'm putting myself on exercise restriction:
-- No more than 20 minutes cardio per day.
-- Pilates three times a week.
-- No weight lifting on same day as Pilates.
-- Alternating the lower calorie burn treadmill days with elliptical days.
I may add back in some Pilates days as I am exploring a lower rep, more yoga-like less athletic style of Pilates that seems to make me less hungry than my more athletic class. The video MR got me for Christmas is both shorter than my class and less athletic, more hodling poses than doing reps, but still gets me where I need to be toning and balance-wise and in terms of mental peace.
That should be enough to maintain the many benefits but hopefully to calm down the hungry muscles.
I really hope my co-workers don't read this. They'll start to run every time I head for the hot sauces.
Posted by april at March 7, 2008 6:34 AM
Comments
Wow - you were exercising a lot. Your new routine sounds very reasonable though. I think the Pilates is probably the most valuable thing you do. Why do you do the cardio, by the way? I can't think of a good reason to do cardio myself.
Posted by: Little MR at March 7, 2008 9:18 AM
Ugh... the navel gazing is too much. April - you guys have to have a kid to cure it! ;)
Posted by: Karen V at March 7, 2008 4:04 PM
Karen,
That was a rather bizarre comment. Surely exercising is a better use of time than bringing unwanted children into the world.
a
Posted by: april at March 7, 2008 9:20 PM
orthoRexia : you lost an R.
Posted by: christophe at March 8, 2008 10:37 AM
Bringing a child into an already overpopulated world seems like a very ego-filled thing to do--it's environmentally negative at this point, but people like the idea of having mini-versions of themselves carrying their legacy on. Maybe you would like April to adopt an unwanted foster child?
Isn't the point of at least half of the blogs out (minimum!) navel-gazing? When people take care of themselves, it can allow them to take care of others better, as in the case of our union organizer here. I *expect* navel-gazing here! And I read it because it gives me insight into my own life.
Posted by: Sara at March 8, 2008 4:59 PM
I read in "The Tao of Detox" by Daniel Reid that "hard" western style exercise like running, lifting wiehgts etc is not good for the immune system as it puts the body in the "fight or flight" mode and causes build up of acid and toxins in the body; whereas soft Asian style exercises like yoga and Tai Chi (and I imagine Pilates comes under that catagory) puts the body in the healing, relaxatin mode that aids expelling toxins from the body as well as helps build up the immune system.
Thanks for such an informative and interesting blog.
GG
Posted by: Gypsy Girl at March 9, 2008 11:16 AM
Hey April,
Just wanted to follow-up on something I mentioned to MR last week. I started doing Dr. Edythe Heus's ProbodX system a few years ago,
http://kevindewalt.com/blog/2007/04/11/probodx_workout/
http://kevindewalt.com/blog/2007/07/05/probodxii/ .
For the reasons I mention in these posts and other experiences since then I highly recommend it.
Unfortunately I have suggested it to a lot of people and a lot of people are really interested in it. But to date none of them have tried it as far as I know.
There are not very good materials available on it and most people (including me) will need a trainer to help out. But the benefits are definitely worth it, and I can say this as someone who tried out just about everything else.
Anyway, just passing along. You and MR are the best.
Posted by: Kevin Dewalt at March 12, 2008 5:08 AM